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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23489461">He said it, not me.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ringadingdong/pseuds/Ringadingdong'>Ringadingdong</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Actually Stephen, DanPlan, actuallyoddplan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brainwashing, Consensual Mind Control, Established Relationship, Everything But Angst, Happy endings are in the eye of the beholder, Hypnosis, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mind Control, Multi, No Drama!, Safe Sane and Consensual, Tags to be added, gavin go away</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:28:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23489461</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ringadingdong/pseuds/Ringadingdong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Seriously, if you are Gavin or under 18 please, for the love of God, do not read this.</p><p>If you are not then welcome! This is just a place for me to write out a disturbing amount of hypno scenarios that involves the AOP crew. Please note that, while none of these stories will contain smut, that a good portion of hypnosis-centric fanfiction is explicit. It is your own responsibility to control what you consume on the internet.</p><p>There will be mentions of kink tropes in some of these stories, of which will be marked.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabelle | Melodify &amp; Joseph Catalanello &amp; Jay Ko &amp; Hosuh Lee &amp; Daniel Lim &amp; Stephen Ng, Jay Ko/Hosuh Lee/Stephen Ng</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Domestic - One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Mini-series will be sorted like: Title - One</p><p>Chapters with kinky content not included in the main tags will have a Content Warning.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>alt title: local pycho more manipulative-able than previously thought</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stephen and Hosuh were having an off-day. Stephen was waiting for an email that could take several days, and Hosuh’s commission work was a bit slow. They didn’t plan anything, but Stephen scrolled through his phone browser looking for something interesting anyway, while Hosuh sat in the corner of his eye. Stephen opened a list of events nearby. Lot of concerts. A crafts workshop. </p><p>”Melone and the Boys, Sweet Kiss, Fairfolk Festival...”</p><p>Hosuh looked up from his tablet. “Hm?”</p><p>”Oak Acres Crafts, man, does anything sound interesting?” Stephen mused.</p><p>”Not really...” Hosuh replied.</p><p>”Book Club, uh...” Stephen mock squinted his eyes. “”Masterminds”? Oh, it’s a convention.”</p><p>”Convention? For what?”</p><p>”Hypnosis, apparently.”</p><p>Hosuh paused for a second. ”What do you even do at a hypnosis convention?”</p><p>”Oh I don’t know. Maybe hypnotize people?” Stephen’s arms flailed around a bit.</p><p>”Well yeah but can you even... do that? Like, in real life?”</p><p>”Duh, of course you can. How else do they make people do weird stuff on stage?”</p><p>”Paid actors...?”</p><p>”They’re trying to make money, Hosuh.”</p><p>”Well...I’ve never been hypnotized, so.” Hosuh let out small laugh. “I wouldn’t know.”</p><p>”Or you’ve been hypnotized to forget you were and to think that the idea is ridiculous! Hehhehheh!”</p><p>Hosuh gently laid his head on Stephen’s knee. “And you’re a hypno-expert?” he teased.</p><p>”Yeah! Even though Stephen’s never hypnotized someone before - actually, that reminds me.” Stephen carefully freed his leg from Hosuh’s head. “Wait a moment.” He strutted off in the general direction of the bedrooms. Hosuh took this as his cue to save his work and power down his tablet. Stephen returned to the living clutching a necklace with a large, circular pendent. </p><p>”Where’d you steal that?” Hosuh joked.</p><p>”Borrowed. From Ann, to be precise. But look!” As if to prove the pendent existed, Stephen dangled it right in front of Hosuh’s face.</p><p>”You’re getting sleeeepy, ooh hoo hoo~” Stephen’s sentence erupted into a giggling mess. Hosuh rolled his eyes. Stephen stifled his laugher. “Okay, maybe not like that. Maybe more like-“ He glanced at the phone in his other hand. “Watch the necklace swing back and forth~.”</p><p>Hosuh noticed Stephen’s phone. “What are you doing?”</p><p>”Hypnotizing you....with the help of the internet! They have scripts and everything on there.” </p><p>”Oh, so just doing totally normal couple stuff, right?”</p><p>”Exactly!”</p><p>”Alright.”</p><p>Stephen stopped swinging the pendent. “Hosuh, I swear, I could ask you to hypnotize yourself right now and you’d be under.” Hosuh dramatically rolled his eyelids shut but was betrayed by a cheeky smile spreading across his face a few seconds later. “Oh?”</p><p>Hosuh’s eyes slid back open, but with a mischievous tint to them. What Stephen called the ‘Stephen I will bug you to give me attention’ eyes. Even a few months in of being ‘officially’ partners, Hosuh (mostly) spared Stephen from that look. Stephen flung out his arm with renewed vigour. “If you say so, Hos.” Although he wasn’t quite sure if this would even work. Stephen stole another glance at the script on his phone, then started swinging the necklace. He could make this work. He had already flustered Hosuh a tiny bit.</p><p>”Keep watching the necklace. Back and forth.”</p><p>”Okay.”</p><p>”You feel compelled to shut up and let Stephen do his thing.” Hosuh’s mouth twitched but made no further noise. “Take a deep breath instead. In-“ Stephen breathed in to illustrate. “-and out.” </p><p>”In. And out.”</p><p>”In. And out.”</p><p>”In. And out.” Stephen noticed Hosuh’s chest starting to rise and fall in rhythm. “Just like that. Keep breathing deeply.” </p><p>”Focus a bit harder on the pendent. Watch it closely. Closer. Don’t let it escape your vision.” He also noticed his own voice had taken a slightly deeper tone.</p><p>”Let yourself relax. Breath in. And out. With each exhale your body feeling a bit heavier. Your mind a bit slower. Your eyes following the pendent back and forth.”</p><p>Stephen’s hand was starting to feel sore, but he tried to ignore that.</p><p>”With every swing, you can feel parts of your body relaxing. Slouching, even. Becoming more and more content with each swing. Back. And forth.” He swore at that moment Hosuh’s eyes fluttered as if this was actually working. Stephen took a moment to assess those blue pools, looking back and forth. They were not focused on anything else but the necklace. He briefly congratulated himself on having those beautiful eyes all to himself.</p><p>”I’m going to count down from ten to one. Once I finish, you will be in hypnosis. Each number will make you more dazed and eager to close your eyes.” Stephen felt giddy. This might work! He hadn’t even thought about what he would do if it did. Although, as he took in the sight of a very obviously dazed Hosuh, his head a tad lopsided, before him, he realized simply watching him fall would be a treat anyway. </p><p>”Ten.” Hosuh’s eyes fluttered but with a more pronounced attempt to keep them open.</p><p>”Nine.” Thank god this script was almost over. Stephen’s arm was not used to being in this position for this long. He fought the urge to move his arm lower.</p><p>”Eight.” Hosuh’s eyes struggled again. Would he even make it? Stephen then got an idea. “You can stop watching the pendent, if it helps.” Thankfully, Hosuh took the offer and vacantly stared. Stephen immediately stopped swinging. His arm thanked him but just as soon started to ache to be fully rested. Stephen wasn’t quite sure if that kind of movement would break Hosuh’s trance, so he continued to hold it in place.</p><p>”Seven.” Never-mind Hosuh, would he even last? He tried to focus on something else other than his strained arm.</p><p>”..........ah, Six.” Stephen caught himself staring into Hosuh’s dormant eyes.</p><p>“Five.” Stephen’s voice was slowly getting quieter. He however, didn’t notice.</p><p>”Four.” He could feel how sore his body was from sitting in the same position for so long.</p><p>”Three.” His arm started to lower by itself.</p><p>”Two.” His eyes fluttered.</p><p>”One.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Domestic - Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hosuh took a lot longer than he’d care to admit to realize he wasn’t hypnotized. Only when he no longer heard Stephen talking did he try to blink the sleepiness from his eyes. He tried to move his body and noted that while he felt like he just had a massage, he still was aware. Or maybe not. Hosuh had never been hypnotized before. He gave himself a good stretch, then spoke.</p><p>”Stephen?” No response.</p><p>But more curious was the position Stephen was in. His face was planted squarely flat on their knee-high coffee table with his mohawk squashed right against the glass. Due to the low height of the coffee table, Stephen’s body was hunched over in such a way that his ass was very comically high up in the air. One hand was splayed in front of him with the necklace still in it’s palm. Hosuh spoke again.</p><p>”Stephen!”</p><p>This time a small “Hm.” came from Stephen. He was breathing pretty rhythmically, Hosuh noticed. Then it dawned on him.</p><p>”Are- did you hypnotize yourself?”</p><p>The next sound that came from Stephen was a mix of a “Hm” and a moan. Well shit. What now? Hosuh couldn’t even get under, let alone get someone over. As he pondered what to do, a small light came from beside his tranced boyfriend. His phone! He had a script, of course! </p><p>Hosuh carefully reached over the table and opened Stephen’s phone. The webpage had the script. Hosuh quickly skimmed it over to make sure that this was the one Stephen tried. It was, but after carefully reading the counting section the page abruptly ended. He decided to try the homepage instead. While Stephen’s phone chugged away Hosuh turned his attention from the phone.</p><p>”Can you talk?” </p><p>Stephen hummed ‘I dunno’.</p><p>Well, if Stephen was under hypnosis, and people under hypnosis (at least from what Hosuh had seen) were very receptive to orders, than Hosuh should be able to use that to his advantage. </p><p>”Try talking.”</p><p>Hosuh saw Stephen’s mouth open. He also caught a drop of drool running across Stephen’s lower lip, but Stephen’s tongue swiftly licked it away before he spoke.</p><p>”’Kay.” Alright, maybe he could do this.</p><p>”Please stand straight.”</p><p>”Don’t wanna.”</p><p>”You’ll be much comfier. Isn’t your back sore from laying like that?”</p><p>Stephen slowly stood up. He made no effort to move his hands separately from his chest as the necklace fell from his open palm. His head rested on his chest. </p><p>”Put your head up, you’re going to get a sore neck like that.” Stephen’s head went up, albeit a tad lopsided. Good enough. Hosuh saw that Stephen’s phone was taking entirely too long so he took out his own phone. </p><p> ‘How to get someone out of hypnosis’ </p><p>Okay. It appeared there were a few options. Option #1, Shock em out of trance. Hosuh did NOT want to do that. Especially since Stephen seemed to be sleeping soundly. Also, Hosuh would get his ass kicked. Option #2, Wait it out. Apparently hypnotized people will eventually come out of it. But the thought of leaving Stephen, even inside a safe place, didn’t sit well with Hosuh. Option #3, Bring them out of trance with an awakener. Now there’s the convenient answer he was looking for. Hosuh read on. 
</p><p>“An awakener serves as a smooth departure from trance back into a regular state. The easiest way to build an awakener is to simply change the induction from an induction into hypnosis to an induction out of hypnosis. For example, if you counted the subject down (or up), doing the reverse is a simple but effective tool.” it read. </p><p>Suddenly, Hosuh remembered Stephen starting to count before he dropped. Although Stephen also had the help of a pocket watch-like object. Maybe it wouldn’t be needed if Hosuh was getting him out. He tried to remember exactly what Stephen said as he thought Stephen was talking about other things between the numbers, but he couldn’t. Not fully black-out memory loss but his words were....fuzzy. He couldn’t remember. </p><p>Hosuh felt blood rush to his face. It most certainly wasn’t Stephen’s intention, however Hosuh had no exact idea of what he was doing to him. What Stephen could do to him. How much attention Stephen would give him. How much he could listen to Stephen talking to him in that slightly commanding but comforting tone, listening to his soft, jumbled words. If Stephen would tell him to do something and he’d do it without thinking or even knowing what he was doing or if Stephen would keep talking about how hypnotized he made him and continue to whisper wonderful foggy words into his mind even though he’d be too far gone to even begin to make out any meaning but- </p><p>...</p><p>....Ffffuck.</p><p>Hosuh desperately tried to reorganize his thoughts. Help Stephen. Stop thinking about being in his place. And about how much he might like it.</p><p>Hosuh just about slapped his own face.</p><p>”Stephen?”</p><p>”Yeah?”</p><p>”I’m going to take you out of trance now.”</p><p>”...Okay.”</p><p>If he didn’t get Stephen out of this predicament, he might not be able to do this again, so focus, Hosuh said to his thoughts.</p><p>”I will count from one to ten, and when I finish, you’ll be able to leave trance. Okay?”</p><p>”Kay.” Now or nothing.</p><p>”One.”</p><p>”Two.” Wait, Stephen added some other stuff to the counting.</p><p>”Three. Feeling your head starting to clear.” Hopefully that was good.</p><p>”Four.”</p><p>”Five. Feeling less sleepy.”</p><p>”Six.”</p><p>”Seven. Becoming more aware.”</p><p>”Eight. Becoming more awake.</p><p>”Nine. Almost there.”</p><p>”Ten. Open your eyes.</p><p>Hosuh slumped in relief when he saw Stephen’s grape eyes again. Stephen didn’t speak right away, but that was okay, because Hosuh could see the gears in his head turning as his body started moving. </p><p>”What.....” he said. “What just happened?”</p><p>Hosuh held his breath. ”Do you remember?”</p><p>Stephen thought for a moment. His eyes lit up. “Holy shit.”</p><p>”Yeah...”</p><p>Stephen practically jumped off the couch. “I did it!”</p><p>”W- no you didn’t!”</p><p>”Stephen hypnotized someone!”</p><p>”Yeah, yourself!</p><p>”I’ve already gotten past the biggest hurdle!” Stephen smirked. “And once I’m ready, you’ll be a literal snap.”</p><p>Hosuh choked on his own spit. Stephen bounced toward the kitchen.</p><p>”Hey, I’ll help you cook. I didn’t realize it was dinner time already.”</p><p>The rest of the evening Hosuh had a hard time deciding if Stephen considered this a big joke or not.</p><p>He had no idea which one he perfered.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Exchange - Intruder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I know there’s already a snake!hosuh au but this hosuh is a constrictor not a biter so it is different please don’t sue me</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: Non-con hypnotizing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s not everyday a lamia meets a human from overseas. It’s even rarer for a lamia to take any interest beyond safety or food. But Hosuh thought Stephen was interesting. How could anyone blame him? This strange boy who had most of his hair in a line on his scalp also didn’t mind him too much, as he put it, “You’re kind of my neighbour who could also eat me”. Hosuh was excited at the prospect of being this boy’s ‘neighbour’. And so nice is he, that he shows Hosuh all the technology of his overseas kingdom. Like ‘cellphones’ and ‘movies’. Movies were Hosuh’s favourite. Stephen would have some playing while Hosuh was over. Mostly movies that were made by one Mr. Walt fellow. Sometimes, Hosuh would pay attention and ask questions. On one occasion, it was Stephen who asked first.</p><p>”Hey Hosuh, you mind if I ask you stuff about your species?”</p><p>”Not at all.” If only all humans were this considerate.</p><p>”Can lamias hypnotize people?”</p><p>”I do not know that word.”</p><p>”Like- here, lemme show you.” Stephen reached for his movie stick and pointed at the television. The scene displayed a rather goofy looking snake with rings of colour moving across it’s eyes.</p><p>”Maybe you are thinking of what we call dazzle. A lamia’s head is it’s weakest spot. This is troublesome for eating prey. Thus, we can ‘dazzle’, or subdue our prey so they do not hurt us while we eat them.”</p><p>The blood in Stephen’s face drained.</p><p>”...are you feeling okay?”</p><p>”Well, it’s nice to know that on top of being much bigger than me and able to strangle my lungs, I couldn’t even fight back.”</p><p>Hosuh giggled. “I’d need to make you into smaller portions if I want to swallow you up.” Stephen looked ready to faint. “Kidding! Just kidding, I swear. I don’t even know if it’s possible to dazzle a human.”</p><p>That was a few weeks ago. Stephen had more important things to do than sit around in his room all day, so Hosuh usually let himself in, and today was no different in that regard. He let his long body drape across the cool, smooth couch. The television wasn’t on but maybe he’d do something else. As he laid a small creak came from the door. Hosuh kept staring into the distance. Until the jarring sound of something heavy prompted him to look at the entrance.</p><p>It wasn’t Stephen.</p><p>Hosuh sprung up from the couch. He managed to get himself to the bathroom and locked the door.</p><p>That was a few seconds ago. What now? Hosuh knew he was more than capable of strangling something smaller than himself, however Stephen would surely be furious if he killed one of his own (even if he could hear the intruder stumbling in the kitchen, probably trying to find a weapon). There’d be too many opportunities for the intruder to kill him if he tried to hold them non-fataliy. Think. </p><p>A sliver of an idea surfaced. Maybe Hosuh could dazzle them long enough to properly restrain them (safely). Hosuh carefully opened the door. His body slid carefully to the bend before the kitchen. </p><p>Hosuh propelled himself at the intruder. A lamia can assess and make decisions in a split second. From those few milliseconds between the initial size up and the grab, Hosuh’s body knocked out the kitchen knife from their hands. Although the knife was halfway across the room Hosuh’s snake body could not perfectly restrain them. He felt the intruder violently start to wiggle out from beneath. Hosuh tried to loosen the death grip he held on them, but as soon as he did he could feel the weight of his prey almost slip out of his grasp. The grip tightened. Hosuh’s tail curled around their arms, pinning them at their sides. He noted that his prey felt a bit on the muscular side as his body constricted around their shoulders. </p><p>Before anything else could happen, Hosuh turned on his power. To his relief the intruder’s eyes immediately widened and a stream of coloured rings emerged from their pupil. Or his, he should say, as Hosuh took a better look at his victim. Male. Weird hair like Stephen. More fit than Stephen. The intruder spoke up.</p><p>”...what...what is...what are...” His lip curled in frustration as he tried to talk. “What are you?”</p><p>”I am Hosuh.” The intruder cocked his head a little to the side. His brows furrowed. Hosuh smiled a bit. This human was kind of cute. Even if a few minutes ago he was trying to kill him. </p><p>”Whatss a Hosuh?”</p><p>”No, my name is Hosuh. I’m a lamia. What’s your name?”</p><p>”...............Gavin.” </p><p>Interesting. “Well, Gavin, if you agree to sit here nicely, I promise i’ll be gentle with you. Let’s start over.”</p><p>Hosuh loosened his grip so that the part of his body that managed to grab Gavin fell to his sides. The tip of Hosuh’s tail then repositioned itself at Gavin’s feet to restrain him better. It curled around his legs, pinning them together. It made it’s way around his waist, then coiling his arms bound once again until finally coming to rest on his neck. The tight cocoon-like position still left plenty of room for Hosuh’s long body to move freely. Unfortunately Hosuh wasn’t sure how long the dazzle would last so this was the best way to make sure his guest couldn’t escape.</p><p>And not a moment too soon, as the intruder started to stir. Hosuh realized he wasn’t dazzling. His eyes lit up again but to his surprise the human closed his eyes and turned away.</p><p>”Don’t be like that.” Still closed.</p><p>Instead, Hosuh gave him a little squeeze. Not too hard, but just enough to get Gavin’s eyes opened in shock. Hosuh saw he had Gavin’s left eye pulsing. His tail slithered up to the prey’s neck, under the chin, and gently turned both eyes to looking into Hosuh’s. Both Gavin’s eyes filled with ring after ring of colour washing over them. His legs went limp, his body now completely supported by the strong snake.</p><p>”There we go.” Hosuh cooed. He started to slowly inch his wrapped package across the hardwood floor to the living room. Usually his prey was eaten by now, so this was a bit cumbersome. Still dazzling, he propped up the intruder again. His head was lopsided on his back, exposing his chest and neck, with his eyes straining themselves to keep contact with Hosuh’s. Hosuh lowered his head. Gavin’s head rose in response.</p><p>“Aww, you’re so silly! Are you silly?” Hosuh bobbed his head up and down. Gavin followed suit, nodding in unison like a puppet on a string.</p><p>”So you admit it!” Hosuh chuckled and let out a sigh. “I should stop playing with you now, though.” He bent forward right in front of Gavin’s face. The rings in his eyes rippled faster, and so did Gavin’s in turn until Hosuh felt the warm victim’s body stiffen and a smile spread across Gavin’s wide-eyed face.</p><p>”Time to sleep now.”</p><p>Hosuh carefully closed Gavin’s eyelids shut. He leisurely laid back on the couch with Gavin sneakily hidden behind. </p><p>Oh, he couldn’t wait to show Stephen what he caught today!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Exchange - Intruder (Gavin POV)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I just really wanted to write the last chapter from Gavin’s pov (and add some closure)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: Non-con hypno</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gavin was not having a very good time at this moment. Instead of his brother, or a spider, or a thief, or literally anything that made any sense, there was what seemed to be a huge snake monster chilling on a black leather couch. Gavin dropped his bags, catching it’s attention. Fuck.
As soon as it noticed him the creature sped away much quicker than one would think for an animal that large. In fact, it moved quick enough to hide somewhere else in the dorm. Gavin stood in the doorway for a few seconds, trying to rationalize what he just witnessed. What was that? How did it get in here? If he called for help would anyone believe him? His heart sank as he considered the important question: Where is Stephen?</p><p>Not knowing what else to do with his brother’s life potentially on the line, Gavin snuck over to the kitchen. He silently cursed out his own hands at the excess noise he made from pulling out a knife from a drawer. Threatening someone much bigger than you seems like an obviously dumb idea, but that was the only idea Gavin had. He tried to hear any telltale noise of the beast but could only hear the irregular beating of his heart.</p><p>In less than a second a huge force knocked him off his feet, causing his knife to fly across the floor. A flash of white ran across him as something strong pinned his arms together.</p><p><em>It’s a snake</em>, he realized. <em>It’s trying to eat me.</em></p><p>Gavin then violently wiggled out from the grip on his chest. He almost slipped out of it’s grasp but the snake’s body simply squeezed tighter around his waist, forcing a pitiful wheeze from his chest. Now the front of the monster was looking him in the face but Gavin barely cared what his demise looked like. Nevertheless, he saw that where the head (and neck?) might be on a normal creature, instead was the upper half of a human. If humans had naturally white hair. And slit eyes. And...eyes that change colour? And....wait....</p><p>A ring of yellow emerged from the monster’s pupils, moving across it’s eyes like a ripple in a lake. Then purple. Then green. Then blue. And then yellow again. Rings of colour flowed continuously like ripples in water. Thoughts of absconding began to dwindle from Gavin’s mind as he felt a strange, almost euphoric sensation creep into his head. One that started at his eyes and soaked down into the rest of his body, causing a floaty feeling in his limbs. Gavin tried to vocalize his fleeting thoughts.</p><p>“What...what is...what are....what are you?”</p><p>The snake gave a little smile. “I am Hosuh.”</p><p>Gavin couldn’t tell whether he had never heard of a “Hosuh” or if he just couldn’t remember amid all the colourful distractions. “Whatss a Hosuh?”</p><p>”No, my name is Hosuh. I’m a lamia. What’s your name?”</p><p>Everything but “What’s your name?” flew over Gavin’s head. However, he soon realized that he was having some difficulty finding his name in his brain, as he found he preferred thinking about the nice, tranquil feelings those eyes were giving him. What do people say when they see him, he thought. They say.....Gavin! A small tug in the back of his mind cried that this wasn’t normal, but the thought soon disappeared under another wave of dizziness.</p><p>”............Gavin.”</p><p>”Well, Gavin, if you agree to sit here nicely, I promise i’ll be gentle with you. Let’s start over.”</p><p>The colourful assault finally vanished from sight. Gavin could still see an imprint of the waves in his vision, but his mind could take a breather. With regained clarity he noticed something slick crawling around his legs. Something alive and muscular, but cold. So cold that he shivered when it slithered around his neck. Gavin noticed out of the corner of his now clear eyes that the mystery...thing was a silvery white in colour. Like the big monster he saw in Stephen’s dorm. Oh fuck.</p><p>Gavin shot back to consciousness. Feeling a pit in his stomach, he realized the monster had him right in it’s clutches, and his fear intensified when it looked into his eyes. He closed his eyes shut and turned away from the monster’s gaze. However, it was a smart creature. It’s coils contracted sharply around his chest, causing Gavin to accidentally slip his left eye open, immediately caught onto the monster’s swirling eyes. Squirming in it’s coils, he tried to resist an urge to open his right. To counter this the monster simply slid it’s tail under his chin and pivoted his head to face it. Unable to withstand head-on, Gavin stared.</p><p>Although still fighting, Gavin could feel himself sinking back under the monster’s spell. Fighting was becoming tiring. With every new colour he felt another dose of pleasure in his veins. How much more relaxed his limbs became. How good it was. How he wanted it. He wanted this. He wanted to stop resisting. To be free of trying. And he could have it all if he just surrendered. </p><p>A slight shudder ran through Gavin as he let the last bits of resistance go. He sighed deeply as pure bliss replaced what was once anxiety and fear, smiling at the sensation. No more uncomfortable thoughts. No worry. Just peace.</p><p>Completely lost, Gavin barely registered movement near his face. The colours moved faster, his mind getting foggier, all thoughts draining out his ears-</p><p>And then Gavin wasn’t thinking at all.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Light poured into Gavin’s eyes as he slowly awoke. In front of him he saw a very concerned Stephen watching.</p><p>”Gavin! Are you okay?”</p><p>Gavin stretched his arms. “Yeah. Pretty great, actually. I think that was the best nap I’ve ever had.” He noticed Stephen’s confused look. “Did something happen?”</p><p>”Do you remember what happened to you?”</p><p>”Uh, yeah? I came back to check on you-“ It all came flooding back as Gavin’s breath fled. “sNAKE! THERE’S A-“</p><p>”-lamia, I know.” Stephen patted Gavin’s shoulder. “Hosuh, do you have something to say?”</p><p>An unforeseen pile of coils moved to reveal a timid human-looking creature. There’s no way this is the same monster.</p><p>”I’m so sorry! I had no idea you were Stephen’s brother!” Okay, apparently it was. ”I hope I can make it up to you.”</p><p>”Well, I had lunch over four hours ago...”</p><p>Stephen frowned. “Are you usually this chill about being experimented on by ancient species unknown to man?”</p><p>”To be fair, it did feel pretty nice.”</p><p>The lama- er, lamia- lit up. “How wonderful! I will make you a great meal and fill you in on my origins.”</p><p>Honestly, Gavin was just glad that Stephen was okay. And that he didn’t get eaten today.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Domestic: Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alternatively: No, They Did Not Fuck In The End</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tantalizing thoughts in Hosuh’s head had been forgotten in about four days as more pressing matters of life carried on. Stephen’s workplace was considering giving him a reduced work week, and although it sounded simple, Hosuh knew this caused all sorts of worry within Stephen. </p><p>When they decided to move in together the plan was that Stephen would provide a small but steady income for the both of them, and Hosuh would agree to take on sporadic but lucrative commission work. So Hosuh admitted he had very little idea of why an extra long weekend might be bad. While the whole fiasco lasted only two weeks, it felt like months when Stephen proudly walked into the house with the news that he was officially exempt from working Fridays. </p><p>Hosuh was enjoying his Saturday when Stephen waltzed in.</p><p>”Hosuh~ You’re not doing anything, right?”</p><p>”What are you up too.” Hosuh grinned.</p><p>”Stephen is here to fulfill his promise!”</p><p>”That being...?”</p><p>”To hypnotize you!” Stephen smiled wide only to see Hosuh react a bit confused. “I tried to hypnotize you, remember? Before my job decided to mess with me?”</p><p>Yeah he totally forgot about that.</p><p>”Since you still have that dumb look on your face i’ll recap: Stephen attempts to hypnotize Hosuh. Stephen may or may not have ended up hypnotizing himself. Stephen definitely did not hypnotize Hosuh. Stephen has used his free time to prepare for attempt two. Got it?” </p><p>Oh no. He was serious. Hosuh’s brain whirred into action as he tried to verbalize his thoughts. “I- But- What if you do it to yourself again?”</p><p>”Don’t worry about it - i’ve done plenty of research! By the way, did you know smarter people are easier to hypnotize?”</p><p>Hosuh scoffed. “Uh-huh.”</p><p>”It’s because they’re able to visualize things better - i’m serious!”</p><p>’That’s what i’m worried about’ thought Hosuh. “How will you stop yourself from getting hypnotized too?”</p><p>”Stephen won’t be hypnotized a second time.” He leaned toward Hosuh. “Are you still up to it?”</p><p>”Of course!” Oops. That sounded a bit too excited. Hosuh could feel his face getting warmer. “...yeah, sure.” </p><p>Stephen paused. “Then what are we waiting for? First, close your eyes.”</p><p>Hosuh did right away. “Wow, Stephen. You did it.”</p><p>”You don’t need to talk right now.”</p><p>Okay, fine.</p><p>”Start slowing your breathing now, because every time you inhale, you may open your eyes. And every time you exhale you’ll close them. Got it?”</p><p>Hosuh nodded.</p><p>”Tell me what I told you to do.”</p><p>”Slow my breathing...open my eyes when I inhale, close them when I exhale.</p><p>”Show me.”</p><p>Hosuh saw the expectant stare of Stephen, then darkness again.</p><p>”Good. Tell me what you’re doing.”</p><p>”I’m, uh, opening my eyes when I inhale and closing them when I exhale.”</p><p>”You weren’t while you said that.” Hosuh scowled at his own failure. “You need to go slower. Focus. Take your time. Now, what are you doing, again?”</p><p>Focus. “I’m opening my eyes when I inhale,” He held his breath for second before letting it go. “and closing my eyes when I exhale.”</p><p>”Perfect. Say it again.”</p><p>”My eyes are open when I inhale. My eyes are closed when I exhale.”</p><p>”Keep breathing just like that.”</p><p>Hosuh’s eyes started to feel a tad dry upon opening. On his inhale he began to blink. Not much, but noticeable enough.</p><p>”You can feel that it’s getting harder to open your eyes, can’t you?”</p><p>
  <em>I think my eyes are just dry...</em> thought Hosuh.
</p><p>”Even if you can force them open, it feels better to have them closed. Better to rest them. Better if you didn’t have to pry them open all the time.”</p><p>
 Hosuh felt his eyelids quiver.
</p><p>”You can keep them closed, but every inhale you take while blind will drag you further to trance. But that’s okay. Because you want to be hypnotized, right?”</p><p>
 “Mm-hm.”
</p><p>”Good. You’re doing so well, it would be a shame if you didn’t. I also appreciate your willingness to let Stephen, a rumoured psychopath, try to control you.”</p><p>”It’s okay. I trust you.”</p><p>Somehow the realization of how incredibly comfortable Hosuh had to be to even entertain the thought of Stephen doing something this weird had only now crossed his mind. Not just weird, but...<em>intimate.</em> Although both he and Hosuh openly expressed their desires to keep their relationship from getting sexual, Stephen (trying to be thoughtful) often thought up how to respectfully treat him (or decline him) in case Hosuh changed his mind. He reasoned that depending on the situation it would be fine if they took it further. Now, however odd it was, things were being taken much, much further than Stephen anticipated.</p><p>It felt that instead of inviting Stephen to take Hosuh’s virginity, he offered up his mind instead. And as such, Stephen decided to treat it so.</p><p>”You know you’re perfectly safe here. If anything makes you uncomfortable, you’ll find it easy to speak up about it. You know you can easily come out of trance if you feel you need to. Stephen’s job is to make you happy. Understand?”</p><p>”Mhm.”</p><p>”Wonderful. Now imagine I have a bunch of helium balloons. Every time you inhale and feel yourself inch closer to trance, a balloon is tied to your right wrist. Don’t be surprised if it takes a few balloons to get your hand in the air. Enjoy the process.” Here we go. “Just listen to Stephen, and everything will work out~”</p><p>He saw Hosuh’s breaths deepen. “Let your mind take a little break.” Hosuh’s hand twitched.  “No need to think about anything.” Oh, it’s already rising into the air. Perhaps he’s naturally easy to hypnotize. “Going deeper.”</p><p>When Hosuh’s hand passed his head he didn’t even realize it. Instead he was focused on the pleasant drone of Stephen’s voice, losing his mind in his auditory honey.</p><p>”I’m going to pull your arm down, and when I do, you’ll go into a state of being highly suggestible. Or, in other words, you will be fully hypnotized. Ready?” Without any hesitation Stephen pinned Hosuh’s arm to the armrest. Hosuh tensed, then went completely slack.</p><p>Stephen quickly pinched himself to make sure he was awake. That was...almost concerningly too easy. Is he faking it? “Hosuh?”</p><p>”....Mnn...”</p><p>Only one way to find out. “Open your mouth, please.”</p><p>Stephen carefully slid two fingers into Hosuh’s mouth. No sounds or reactions came forth. Only the steady rise and fall of breathing. By now Hosuh definitely would have lost a straight face, so Stephen didn’t stay any longer in his maw. He awkwardly wiped his fingers as a glean of saliva coated the corner of Hosuh’s still open mouth. Stephen grinned.</p><p>It’s time to play.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. DP Superheros - Bait</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Stephen had lived in two worlds his whole life.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: Non-con hypno/light brainwashing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“All I’m saying is Daniel doesn’t get it.” Stephen’s mouth remained open but formed an “Aaah!” sound instead as his over expressive hands dripped cold slush onto the sidewalk. “Oh come on.”<br/>
Hosuh’s eyes darted to the ground, then Stephen. “Technically, no-one gets you.”<br/>
Stephen pouted. “Like, I know it’s hard for you Hosuh, but you could try having some empathy.”
</p><p>Hosuh giggled, and while that was the response Stephen wanted, he still felt a tiny tug at his heart. For all his life, Stephen lived in two worlds. The world preserved in history, the world that could only be one-hundred percent true in the past second. And the world of what-ifs. What would happen if his dumb “superpower” didn’t exist. Seeing the future three seconds ahead non-stop was more exhausting than you would think. So no, no one really understood. He whistled.</p><p>”Hey. Crowd ahead.”</p><p>Stephen turned his attention towards a small group blocking their way. He didn’t really feel like interacting with strangers right now, but Hosuh’s pace remained steady, so Stephen dragged himself along. As they approached, Stephen saw a man in front of the group about to see him. Stephen’s best attempt at swerving away did little as the man grabbed his wrist instead.</p><p>”<em>Excuse me</em>” Stephen snarled. Then, at that exact moment, but three seconds in the future, something strange happened to Stephen. In the present, Stephen’s body drooped in response. His eyes closed shut.</p><p>”Stephen?!”</p><p>The man turned to Hosuh. “No need to worry-“ The man then proceeded to sustain multiple injuries courtesy of Hosuh, including: a disturbed gum, a bruise on the left shoulder bone, a bloody nose due to sudden impact, a bruise near the chest area, a pulled muscle, and a small bruise around his wrists (in that order). Hosuh’s grip on his hair was so tight he may have caused some other kind of minor complication. “What, the, fuck...”</p><p>Hosuh pulled the man’s head farther back. ”What do you think you’re doing?” He made sure the barrel of his gun was visibly poking out from underneath his coat.</p><p>”It’s just a magic trick......please...let me go..” Hosuh released his grip and preformed a quick pat down of the suspect. Nothing unusual. Just a wallet with a standard id and about five dollars cash. This man couldn’t be a criminal worth calling backup for. Hosuh shifted his weight off of him. He watched, arms crossed, as the man slowly propped himself up.<br/>
“Care to explain what you’re doing?” </p><p>The man scowled. “I’m a magician, and if you sensitive cops wouldn’t get so uppity, I’d be done here already. Look, I’ll even wake up your friend-“
Stephen violently opened his eyes, causing the man to jump. “See? He didn’t even need me!”<br/>
“Stephen! Are you okay?” Hosuh wrapped his arms around Stephen.<br/>
“I think so... hey, your guy’s running!”<br/>
“Are you sure?”<br/>
“I’m fine now. Really. But I think my “sight problems” screwed me there.”<br/>
Hosuh looked up to see the small weasly figure of the “magician” running away. “You didn’t screw anything. And look!” Hosuh and Stephen saw the crowd (which was unresponsive during the fiasco) start to stir. “I think we saved them!” </p><p>Both heros lingered around as more people from the crowd came to. As they made sure everyone had recovered, an idea of the “crime scene” surfaced. All of them had been beckoned by the strange man or was watching him, as he himself put it, “hypnotizing”. The duo decided to refrain from involving any kind of authorities as no one seemed injured.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p>Somewhere at an undisclosed location stood a pair of large steel doors. The doors would then slide open, signalling the arrival of an extraordinary man. Although not the tallest in the room, any outsider could clearly recognize the status he held. The conversation between the room’s crew instantly died down in his arrival; except Stephen, the little shit. As the handsome gentleman’s boots clopped on the floor, he briefly entertained the thought of throwing them at Stephen. Being the good person he is, he addressed his crew instead.<br/>
“Good evening everyone.”<br/>
“GoOd EvENiNg dAnieL!” said Stephen <em> in his most annoying voice possible</em>.<br/>
“Good evening everyone but Stephen.” Daniel reiterated. “We have a situation.”</p><p>The screens in the control room lit up. “Our culprit today is the infamous supervillian Nyx. They gained villain status from their numerous attempts at controlling entire cities via homemade brainwashing tech. Nyx has been located inside City Hall. </p><p>A woman with a ponytail spoke next. “What do you mean “inside City Hall”?”.<br/>
“I mean, Nyx infiltrated City Hall and we can only assume they’ve set up a temporary base.”</p><p>It was not Stephen’s turn to talk but he did so anyway. “Do they not have any security around?”<br/>
“They do, but none of the evacuated can give us a consistent profile. I suspect that Nyx’s brainwashing devices have something to do with that. You’ll have to be careful of that while you take them down. </p><p>The scruffy blonde piped up from farther back. “Ooh! I love a suicide mission!”<br/>
Daniel sighed. “I know that the devices don’t work through most walls, but that probably won’t be very useful...”<br/>
”Getting completely fucked? Even better!”<br/>
”Shut up Jay.”<br/>
Daniel reached into his pocket. “If you think you can’t do it-“</p><p>”Wait.”</p><p>Everyone turned to look at Stephen. “What if we knew when and if there are brainwashing devices activated?”<br/>
Daniel’s expression softened. “Go on.”<br/>
”I mean, it can’t go through walls, right?”<br/>
Jay butted in. “I see what you mean!<br/>
“Yes!”<br/>
“You can be our canary in the coal mine!”<br/>
“No!” Pause. “I meant like wi-fi signals or something.” Daniel smiled. “That sounds like a great idea! Stephen won’t even have to do much.”<br/>
“...I’m doing you guys a favour-!”<br/>
”Then it’s decided! Six hours. Meet by the waypoint on the east side of City Hall.”</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p>”Hey. You still up for this?” Dingo asked.<br/>
Stephen glanced at his teammates. “Yeah.” He <em>could</em> do this. Stephen is incredible, after all. He swallowed and looked back to the hall. Everyone else was already gathered at the large entrance. City Hall was a rather spacious building. Thankfully, as they slid inside the heros were greeted with a few convenient piles of solid debris. As the designated meat shield, Stephen stepped forward, taking care not to trip over anything.</p><p>Suddenly, he felt a wave of force hit him as his bones turned to rubber. Stephen’s body fell to the floor. It was so disorienting he didn’t register hitting the ground. For a second there was nothing. Then static. Crinkling, fuzzy static. Stephen couldn’t hear anything. None of his senses seemed to work. However, he felt something slosh his body around. As it shook his body he focused on the feeling of organs squishing against bones. Slowly but surely his sense of touch, and eventually hearing, and sight, came back to him. Stephen realized he was looking into Hosuh’s eyes. Hosuh seemed...weirdly proud?<br/>
”...hey Hos.”</p><p>”Hey! It worked!”<br/>
Stephen looked around and saw that yes, they were safely behind a pile of rubble with no mind-compromised teammates. He smirked.<br/>
”But of course the great Stephen prevails!”<br/>
Hosuh gestured towards the stairwell across the room. “Let’s go then.”<br/>
If all this debris wasn’t blocking their way, they’d probably be at the stairwell by now. Stephen hastily picked up his pace with this in mind. Jay called from behind.<br/>
”Stephen, wait!”<br/>
Stephen sarcastically rolled his eyes. “Well Stephen’s just a natural at missions and could get there-“</p><p>Stephen’s brain short-circuited. This time he managed to throw his hands in front to steady himself as he fell forward. He was also aware enough to catch a glimpse of himself in the future - turning towards the stairs? Before he could see further he was yanked back into the present, behind more debris with the others. Jay held Stephen upright.<br/>
”You’re a natural player, I’ll give you that.”<br/>
Stephen’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you mean “team player”?”<br/>
Dingo groaned. “Can we please save the flirting for later?”<br/>
Stephen wriggled out of Jay’s arms and gestured to keep going.</p><p>Luckily, it happened again right before the stairs. Stephen could stay standing now that he knew what to expect. A short pause. Static. And a light feeling as future-Stephen placed his hand on the rail. And then he was back in the present again, hiding behind a pillar. With Stephen still standing, the gang was able to quickly rush up to the second floor before the next wave. Now that they arrived at the upper level Stephen had to move slower; even he knew that those piles of dust and bricks had to come from somewhere. It became apparent that while the roof of the first floor was badly damaged, the second floor itself still maintained some stability.</p><p>Stephen froze as he watched the muscles of his future self freeze up from the oncoming wave. Future Stephen’s posture straightened, gaze vacant. A hand slapped Stephen back into the present. ”Ow! The hell!?”<br/>
“Keep going.” Jay smiled. Stephen grumbled. He really couldn’t wait for this back-and-forth game to end. Due to the nature of his “superpower”, seeing events that technically never happened was inevitable at some point, but something about this scenario in particular bothered him much more. Like gaslighting yourself. Constantly.</p><p>Soon Stephen approached a large set of doors leading to a room labeled “Museum”. Local governments sure do like reminding people of their presence. Periodic bursts of light leaked out the cracks. Hosuh spoke. “Okay, on the count of three-“<br/>
“Three!” shouted Stephen, as he threw the doors open in a dramatic display. A small figure hid in between old knick-knacks and machines. Stephen began to pounce but once again was interrupted. Dingo threw out a smoke bomb, then teleported her teammates behind a bookshelf. “Stephen, what gives?” she whispered.</p><p>Stephen slouched and slid down to his knees. To his knowledge, Nyx had both Stephen and his friends in their evil clutches. He stared through Dingo. Out of nowhere Jay slapped Stephen. “Hey, smart guy!” No response.<br/>
“Watch out!” Hosuh exclaimed.<br/>
Jay pulled Stephen with them as the bookshelf tumbled down. In one quick movement Jay threw Stephen behind it.</p><p>Stephen felt nothing. Just a slight fuzzy jostle. His body laid limp on the floor as he watched future-Stephen get up, then fall back down after experiencing the phantom feeling of being hit. More static filled his head as Stephen struggled to find any strength. All this static interfered with his brain, pushing and dampening any thoughts that tried to surface. Stephen tried harder to focus on whatever came to mind. A few words took shape, albeit still very fuzzy.<br/>
<em>Help.....full...ness...</em><br/>
<em>...Ser...v......itud..e...</em><br/>
<em>..O.....bed-i-e-nce</em><br/>
Stephen liked how the second one sounded. <em>Servitude.</em> He didn’t know what it meant per se, but it sounded fun to say over and over.<br/>
Servitude. Serv-itude. Ser-vit-ude.<br/>
Even that one word became difficult to think.<br/>
Thinking was hard.<br/>
Thinking...is hard....<br/>
<em>Can’t...think....</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t. Want. To. Think.</em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
To be continued.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello. As you can see, this chapter got a bit...long. That’s also why it took so long to publish (and my phone breaking).I know cliffhangers suck, but rest assured, Stephen is more than fine...</p><p>If you have any opinions or even requests/ideas for more scenarios, comment them! They help me write.<br/>:)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Exchange - Late</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hosuh uses his powers - for good!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was another one of Stephen’s restless catch-up nights. His laptop had ran for so long that it’s heat threatened to burn Stephen’s legs. Hosuh was watching Stephen and more-so the warmth radiating from his glow box. The tip of his tail snuck between Stephen’s legs, trying to access the hot air.<br/>
”Hey- hey! Hosuh!” Stephen swatted his tail away. “At least buy me a drink first.”</p><p>”But I’m so cold and you’re so hot!”<br/>
<em>Damn right I am.</em> was what Stephen wanted to say but a tired grunt was all he made. He absent-mindedly pushed up his rectangular glasses.<br/>
“What are you even doing that is so important at this hour?”<br/>
“Studying.”<br/>
“You’ve been studying since sundown.”<br/>
Stephen looked at the clock. 12:09. “Huh.” He stretched his arms. “Guess I’m not getting a good night’s sleep tonight.”<br/>
“What? Why?”<br/>
“...Are you being sarcastic?”<br/>
“No?”<br/>
Out of the corner of his glasses Stephen noticed Hosuh’s tail trailing beside him. He didn’t move. Slightly annoyed with himself, Stephen closed his laptop. “Guess I’ll just wait for my horrible sleep hangover. God, my head hurts.” He rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness. </p><p>Even in darkness Stephen saw Hosuh’s huge form. He still felt his tail hovering over his body. “Do you need something?”<br/>
Hosuh’s upper half shifted closer to Stephen’s face. “I think I can help you.”<br/>
“...how?”<br/>
A soft blue, purple, green, yellow glow emitted from Hosuh’s eyes. “It seems that dazzle causes an enjoyable state in other creatures.”<br/>
Stephen’s pupils dilated for a moment, hooked on Hosuh’s bait before he snapped his eyes shut. “I’mmmmm okaythanks!”</p><p>Hosuh slithered even closer. With his face right in Stephen’s, he could see his signature hypnotic pattern reflecting in Stephen’s glasses. Good thing lamias can’t be dazzled. “Oh, but I insist! I’ll have a nice soft heat source, and you’ll be sleeping like a log. We both benefit.”<br/>
Stephen gulped. “N-no, really, it probably takes too much effort anyway!”<br/>
“Not really. I inssssist.” The tip of Hosuh’s tongue  flicked Stephen’s nose. Stephen opened his eyes in surprise. Pulse. They dilated again. Pulse. Contracted. Pulse. Dilated. Pulse. And then the signature rings of “dazzle” blossomed from his pupil one by one.
</p><p>Stephen’s mouth hung slightly agape as his surroundings vanished. His eyes gravitated straight into Hosuh’s and was rewarded with a wave of calmness. Whatever resistance plagued him dissipated in those eyes, neither thought nor action. No other sight laid before him as there was only Hosuh and colours in his mind. His eyes widened a bit on every pulse, feeling euphoric and pleasurable. Stephen cocked his head.
He was marginally aware of Hosuh pushing his glasses further up over his mohawk, but he paid more attention to the mesmerizing display that was surprisingly quite nice to stare at.<br/>
“There we go.”<br/>
The voice purred in his ear, and he sighed in joy as his breathing slowed. <em>I guess this isn’t so bad.</em> he thought, for his brain was sticky and full of bright syrup. In a good way. A really, really good way. </p><p>Stephen then felt a thick tail start to wrap around his body. He tried to glance at the touch, just for one second, but found he couldn’t tear his eyes away from...colours....<br/>
“How do you feel now?”<br/>
“Colours...” he mumbled.<br/>
“Of course.” These humans had no business being this cute. “You can relax yourself more! I’ll hold you.”<br/>
Hosuh’s coils circled around Stephen, forming a snug support. With Stephen firmly in Hosuh’s grasp he couldn’t help but give Stephen a little squeeze. Stephen squeaked. 
</p><p>Hosuh then remembered that he was supposed to be helping Stephen, not playing with him. Although, who could blame him for wanting to toy with such a adorable little creature? He squished Stephen’s face in his hands. “You are too cute for your own good. Do you know that mister?”<br/>
“Mm, mpf..”<br/>
“Trying to distract me, you rascal?” He rolled Stephen’s cheeks. “You need to go to sleep. Here, I’ll even sing for you, okay?” Hosuh pulled his hands away. He closed his eyes to refocus them, then opened them with renewed power. Stephen immediately focused back on Hosuh’s hypnosis. Not that he was really having trouble, though. Hosuh cleared his throat.</p><p>“Notice how your lungs are slowing<br/>
Notice how all your thoughts are going<br/>
Time to sleep throughout the night<br/>
Listening to me feels right.”<br/>
Stephen’s eyelids drooped.<br/>
“Surrender your autonomy to me<br/>
And I will keep you company~<br/>
Stephen liked the song, and tried to sing along, but his dazed state only permitted his lips to twitch.<br/>
“So don’t you worry your little head<br/>
Dream of pretty colours instead.”<br/>
“Now my dear please take a rest<br/>
after all I know what’s best.”</p><p>Hosuh gently placed two fingers on Stephen’s head and pushed him downwards, making his eyes close in turn.<br/>
“<em>Sleep.</em>”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Gavin almost had a heart attack as he found a giant bundle of snake body in the living room, but he managed to keep his composure.<br/>
<em>It’s just Hosuh...</em> he reminded himself.<br/>
On closer inspection, he noticed Stephen’s head sticking out of the pile like a sore thumb. A dark spot of drool stained the collar of his shirt, his glasses were hastily tucked into his hair, and he had the biggest, dopiest smile. Gavin quickly put two and two together. </p><p>...Stephen probably wasn’t going to eat breakfast.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one’s a bit shorter, but now I can work on the Jo-centric chapter :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Monster Mash! - Secret</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jo has a very big secret to keep from his friends.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: Pheromones (not gross, still detailed), One short non-con memory alteration, mentions of A/B/O tropes, tiny bit of Jay x Jocat if you squint your eyes maybe?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once upon a time, one lucky man met his future wife. They planned for a child, and eventually gave birth to beautiful baby boy. His name was Joe.</p><p>And then Joe was a zombie.</p><p>Well, it was more like his parents found out he was half-zombie when at two days old the skin he possessed which should have been still fresh and glimmering with life had started to become unusually rough. Thankfully, in a world of human-monster relationships, the doctors were able to figure out the cause: Joe’s father was not a zombie, but carried a gene from his ancestors (one was a zombie, he never found out who) that laid dormant until it was passed on and activated in his child. Such an occurrence was not too rare for parents with unknown heritage, and throughout his life, Joe was carefully supplied with the necessary nutrients and supports to live a (somewhat) normal life.</p><p>Now Joe was a glowing young adult. He had hobbies, a job, and friends. Said friends which he was going to visit today for a hangout. Jo fiddled with his jacket as he reviewed his plans for the day. He’d go meet Stephen first near the park. Then they’d meet up with the rest of his friend circle. He actually wasn’t quite sure what they were gonna do after that, but Daniel was coming along with them, so they didn’t really need a plan. Joe skipped towards the park.</p><p>It was just around the block. Joe turned the corner and was greeted with the sight of fallen leaves and...<br/>
“Hosuh?”<br/>
Hosuh turned to him, looking almost shocked. “Hey Joe.”<br/>
Joe glanced over Hosuh’s shoulder. “Where’s Stephen? Is he still coming with us?”<br/>
“He wasn’t feeling good earlier, he might still join us though.”<br/>
“Oh man! Hope he feels better.”<br/>
Hosuh nodded in response, then gestured towards the nearby mall. “Dan’s already at the food court. We don’t have to eat but he skipped out on breakfast.”<br/>
“Alright with me.”<br/>
Joe followed Hosuh through the park. The sound of Hosuh’s relaxed tone and the crunch crunch crunch of dry leaves underneath Joe’s shoes felt almost therapeutic. For a fall day it was quite warm outside, and plenty of parents were out supervising their excited children. Joe glanced around the field and noticed one kid who was curled up on the ground. None of the adults around seemed to approach or give any indication that it was theirs. The kid wasn’t moving very much either.<br/>
“Hey, uh, Hosuh? Does that kid look okay to you?”<br/>
He looked back over at the kid and at Hosuh, who was now cautiously approaching them. “Hey, are you alright?”<br/>
“NO!” The child snapped all of a sudden, wailing out a series of pained tears. Joe was not equipped to handle this.<br/>
Hosuh visibly winced. “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re friendly.” He worriedly looked around the field. And then he opened his mouth and started to sing. Both Joe and the child were caught off guard. Mostly Joe, he didn’t know Hosuh could sing like that, or that he happened to know a very old nursery song that happened to be his favourite. He recited it perfectly as well, with a soft but upbeat rhythm. The child’s crying reduced from sobs to sniffles.<br/>
“Do you feel better now?”<br/>
They sniffed. “Yeah.”<br/>
“Where are your parents?”<br/>
“They’re by the swingset.”<br/>
Hosuh sighed a little. “Then why were you all by yourself?”<br/>
“I was mad at them. But I’ll go apologize to them because I’m a big girl.” And with that, she strutted off, leaving an utterly dumbstruck Hosuh.<br/>
“Kids these days are getting weirder and weirder...” he mumbled.<br/>
“At least they weren’t lost. You really calmed them down.”<br/>
“Aw, you flatter me Joe.”<br/>
“No, really! I actually know that song.”<br/>
He could’ve sworn Hosuh’s expression faltered a bit. “Oh, do you?”<br/>
“Yeah, I used to listen to it all the time as a kid. Did you go to Westwood kindergarten?” That particular song was mostly a local thing. Did Hosuh encounter it by chance? Or maybe he and Hosuh were closer than Joe thought? That would be so cool!<br/>
“I completely forgot about Dan! He must be wondering where we are!” Suddenly, Hosuh practically slapped Joe’s shoulder. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” He sped off.<br/>
“Wh-“ It was too late. A bit shaken, Joe limped behind. Although it was kind of funny that he was literally a rotten egg, which was also the reason he couldn’t keep up, he couldn’t help but worry about his friends finding out his secret. That he was a zombie, and weird, and gross, and unnatural.<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p>
“Jooooo!” Daniel opened his arms for a hug, and Joe graciously accepted. “Hey Dan.”<br/>
Daniel sat down at the table. “Food’s still hot. Want a fry?”<br/>
“I’m okay, thanks.”<br/>
“Suit yourself.” Daniel popped another fry into his mouth. Hosuh sat down with Daniel and Jay. Joe was about to join them when he noticed someone sitting a few tables down from them.<br/>
“What’s Stephen doing over there?”<br/>
“He decided to come along.” Daniel responded. “For some reason he’s sitting away from us.”<br/>
“Aw, he must be lonely! I’ll go see if he’s okay.”<br/>
“You do that.” If Joe had stuck around a bit longer he would’ve caught the glare Jay shot at Dan, but he sauntered over to Stephen right away. Stephen was staring away from him, legs crossed.<br/>
“Hey Stephen!”<br/>
Stephen jumped. “Ah! Don’t do that!”<br/>
“Haha, sorry. Why are you all the way over here?”<br/>
“I’m not feeling the best...didn’t Hosuh tell you?”<br/>
“So you’re gonna sit all alone without your friends?” Joe plopped down across him. “Not while I’m here.”<br/>
Stephen softly smiled. “Thanks.”
A blush appeared on his face. Poor Stephen. He must be having a fever.<br/>
“Whatcha eating?”<br/>
Stephen looked at his food. “It’s a sweet bun. Apparently.”<br/>
Joe watched Stephen slowly take the first bite of the bun. Part of Joe wanted to give him a reassuring hug, but that wasn’t a wise idea if whatever Stephen had was contagious. Although, he didn’t smell sickly. Quite the opposite. An indescribable scent floated around Stephen. Maybe it was just the bun?<br/>
Stephen habitually tugged at the collar of his shirt. “Do you want one?”<br/>
“I already ate, don’t worry about me.” Yeah, it was definitely coming from Stephen as a stronger sample wafted from his neck area. Some kind of perfume, then? Joe had never seen Stephen with perfume on before. And for someone who never wore perfume he picked out a very nice scent. It...was a tasty scent, for lack of a better descriptor. Like a meaty, spicy, slightly sweet meal.<br/>
“Jo?”<br/>
“Huh?”<br/>
“You good?” Oh no. He must have spaced out.<br/>
“Yeah, just thinking!” Quick! Change the subject! “I, uh, like your perfume!” ...close enough?<br/>
“My...perfume?” Stephen seemed to stare through  Joe. His face turned red. “Oh shi- I’m sorry, fuck fuck fuck...” Stephen bolted away.<br/>
Joe sat there for a bit. He had no clue what just happened.<br/>
“Hey, where’s Stephen going?” Daniel asked as he approached him.<br/>
“He’s about to throw up? I don’t know. He looked like he went to use a restroom.”<br/>
“Let’s follow him, then.”<br/>
Joe took one last look at the abandoned sweet bun.
<em>Hopefully it wasn’t anything I said...</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
“Steeeepheeeennn...” Daniel’s voice echoed off the bathroom walls. “I’m sure he’s in here somewhere.”<br/>
Not knowing what to do with himself, Joe leaned against the wall. Seeing as he caused Stephen’s sudden disappearance it would be awkward to chase after him. His eyes drifted to the big mirror in the stalls. Despite being sick, Stephen had still tried his best to show up - for his friends! And then Joe ruined it.<br/>
Joe’s gaze was unfocused as he continued his deep thought. Vaguely aware of the fuzzy top of Daniel’s green hair. And wait, what is tha<br/>
There’s nothing unusual. Everything is perfectly normal. It’s so normal, Joe didn’t even notice Daniel standing there.<br/>
“Joe? You good buddy?” he waved.<br/>
“Oh! Sorry. Must’ve been drifting off.”<br/>
“I guess we’ll have to go on without Stephen.” That’s right. Stephen left. Daniel gave Joe a pat. “Whadda say we take a stroll? Enjoy the nice weather while we have it. I also need to workout more.” he mumbled. Joe just grabbed his hand and let himself be led away.
</p>
<hr/><p>
“So Stephen’s gone?” Jay asked.<br/>
Daniel grinned. “Are you happy?”<br/>
“No. Just surprised that he didn’t say anything to me.”<br/>
“What, was he supposed to or something?” Daniel stuck a hand into Hosuh’s overpriced popcorn, eliciting a “hey!” from the boy.<br/>
“He always texts someone when he needs to say something, you’re just the least responsible of us.”<br/>
Daniel made a face.<br/>
“He’s right you know.” said Hosuh with a slight tinge of mock sadness. Getting over it quickly, he glanced at Joe. “Hey.”<br/>
Joe, who was holding Hosuh’s hand during this little walk, squeezed his hand. “Ah! Yeah! Yeah.” he sighed. “Yeah.”<br/>
Hosuh raised an eyebrow, slowly offering the bag of popcorn. “Do you want some?”<br/>
“I’m okay.”<br/>
Lowering the bag, Hosuh made a concerned look at Jay, who seemed to return an understanding look while still keeping his eyes closed. Somehow. “Hey Dan, did Hosuh ever show you that graffiti on the fountain?” Jay asked.<br/>
“Graffiti? No?” Daniel turned to Hosuh.<br/>
“I never did? Come on, you got to see it!” Letting go of Joe and grabbing Daniel, he spun him around.<br/>
“W-wait! What about-“<br/>
“Jay and Joe won’t interested. Besides, it’ll be quick! Let’s go!” Hosuh mouthed a “thank you” to Jay then yanked Daniel away.<br/>
Joe stood in place, the conversation having gone way too fast to tell what happened. Why did Hosuh leave so suddenly? Between Stephen and Hosuh and Daniel he had barely spent any time longer than half an hour at a time. Was he being selfish? Did they...not want to be around him? Joe’s throat tightened. They didn’t want to be around him.<br/>
“There go the dorks, into their wild habitat.” Jay shrugged. “So Joe........Joe?”<br/>
Oh no oh no he was starting to cry. “Joe! What’s wrong?”<br/>
“I’m-i’m sorry I just-just...” he pressed his lips together, trying to contain himself.<br/>
Jay glanced over his shoulder. Without a word he gently pulled Joe into his side, guiding the two behind a small building.
</p><p>
Joe’s little heart banged against his chest. Now he was just making a big deal out of himself. His hands rose to cover his face, muffling his bubbling sobs. He could feel Jay still there, and he wanted nothing more than to be held without Jay hearing his stupid crying. A hand came to rest on his head.<br/>
“Is there anything I can do?”<br/>
He faced Jay. “I just, just ne-ed to stop cryingh.”<br/>
Jay paused for a few seconds. “...I can help with that, but you’ll have to trust me.”<br/>
It hurt trying to speak normally, so Joe just nodded.<br/>
“Alright. I’m going to need you to look me in the eyes. Can you do that?”<br/>
What? Did he mean... Joe realized he had never seen Jay’s open eyes before, at least in person. “Yes?”<br/>
And then Jay opened his eyes. He chuckled as Joe couldn’t help but let out a small gasp. First of all, Jay had yellow-red hetrochromia, and all his friends knew that, but the way the contrasting colors reflected the light and perfectly complimented each other was stunning in person. Second of all, Joe didn’t know how many people even got the chance to see Jay’s eyes for themselves. He felt a little less vulnerable.<br/>
“Listen. Joe, we all love you very much. Almost everyone can see that you’re having a rough day. I don’t know why, but you can talk it out if you want, or you can let it out while I protect you.”<br/>
”I *hic* want to shtap cryin.”<br/>
“Then release all the tears.”<br/>
Joe released a few more sniffles and sniffs, gradually regaining control of his breathing. He was winding down. However, Jay’s eyes were still open and they were very distracting. So beautiful. “I like your eyes.”<br/>
Joe heard Jay’s smile through his voice. “Thank you. I like yours too.” In any other situation, Joe would have denied so, but he didn’t care right now. “Do you want to talk about it?”<br/>
“I haven’t been telling the truth about my species.”<br/>
“Is that why you’re in a bit of a funk today?”<br/>
“No. Yes. Kind of.” Joe’s expression faltered. “I’m not considered a real monster by some doctors, and I’m not a normal human and I scared off Stephen and Hosuh and-“<br/>
Jay put a finger to his lips. “Shhhhh.” his eyes drew Joe’s further into them. “Stephen was sick with a medical condition and Hosuh noticed how you were.... “off”.” he ran his fingers through Joe’s hair. “There is nothing wrong with you. Understand?”<br/>
“Yes.”<br/>
“Good.” Jay hummed.“You must be tired from carrying all that emotion on your shoulders.”<br/>
Joe yawned. Of course he was tired, especially with those calming eyes staring into his head.<br/>
“Why don’t you take a short nap while we wait for Hosuh to return? I’ll be right here.”<br/>
Joe started to lean over as he felt himself growing more exhausted. Jay wrapped his arms under his, supporting Joe as he slowly fell onto him.<br/>
“Yep, just like that. Close those tiiiiired eyelids now.” Joe’s eyes lowered. As Jay continued to coax Joe to sleep, he reached for his phone.<br/>
<br/>
me and joe are ok, had to pull out the big guns tho &gt;<br/>
&lt; was it really bad?<br/>
turns out hes a monster and felt really bad lying about it :v &gt;<br/>
&lt; that’s ironic<br/>
i know. was wondering if you could convince steph to come back cause joe thinks he scared everyone off &gt;<br/>
&lt; of course<br/>
thx ho, will fill everyone in &gt;<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p>
Joe awoke to Jay staring down at him. Wait, what?<br/>
“How are you feeling?”<br/>
“Fine?” He sat up to even more confusion when he saw the rest of his friends standing there.<br/>
Hosuh approached him. “Joe, we need to talk.”<br/>
Oh god. Joe’s heart sank. He gulped.<br/>
“There’s-“ Stephen suddenly cut off Hosuh, rushing to Joe and firmly grabbing his hands. He looked like he just saw a puppy die.<br/>
“<em>Joe</em>.” Stephen sounded like he was going to cry. “Why must we lie to each other?”<br/>
Hosuh huffed. “Stephen, please take this more seriously.”<br/>
“You were making this much more serious than it needed to be!”<br/>
“What we meant to say was that...we’re sorry.”<br/>
“Sorry?” said Joe. “Sorry for what?”<br/>
Daniel continued. “When you started to hang out with us, we kind of forgot to tell you something really important.”<br/>
Joe stared at them. He was sitting on Jay’s lap, yet he felt cold underneath. Stephen was shifting around. Hosuh smiled a little wider than normal, sharp canines lurking at the corners of his mouth. And then Dan popped off one of his contact lens, revealing a pupil-less eye.<br/>
“We’re monsters.” 
</p><p>
Joe sat in shock. To make it more apparent that Dan was a monster, two antennae sprung from his green hair. “I’m so sorry, if we just told you this I wouldn’t have zapped you!”<br/>
Joe’s eyes went wide. “Zapped me?!”<br/>
“Well, it’s actually much more complicated then that, but everyone calls alien perception control “zapping”, so.” Daniel pouted. “It’s still rude though!”<br/>
“You’re an alien? That’s so cool!” Joe looked at his other friends in anticipation and awe.<br/>
Jay wiggled from under Joe. “Vampire.”<br/>
“Siren.” Hosuh smiled.<br/>
“Very uncomfortable werewolf.” said Stephen.<br/>
“Sorry.” Joe replied.<br/>
“No no no, not because of you.” Stephen’s face turned redder.<br/>
Joe grinned at how cool all his friend’s species were. His grin shrank when he noticed they seemed to be looking at him with the same curiosity. “I’m....... a zombie.” No one seemed to be expecting that.<br/>
“Woah! I’ve never met a zombie before!” Daniel exclaimed.<br/>
“That’s because zombies are just humans with a knack for playing dead.”<br/>
“Not quite human?” Hosuh replied. “Sounds like a monster to me.”<br/>
Stephen butted in. “Exactly! Now that we’ve sorted everything out, The Great Stephen must return to his bedchambers! Alone! And, preferably, with no interruptions!” Joe caught a bit of purple fuzz beginning to form on Stephen’s ear before he dashed away.<br/>
Jay sighed. “Maybe I can buy you dinner as an apology?”<br/>
Joe shook his head. “You are the last person who needs to apologize.” He placed a finger to his chin. “But I <em>am</em> hungry.”<br/>
“Hell yeah! Let’s go for a fancy dinner!” Daniel cheered. Hosuh tried to ask how fancy as Jay berated Dan for his earlier actions. Joe smiled.<br/>
<br/>
He was lucky to have such good friends.
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I will never write a chapter this long ever again (without splitting it). Unless everyone is okay with this insane update time, haha.</p><p>Also, for quite a while now I’ve really wanted to change the name of this “fic”, but I haven’t the slightest clue what I should name it. Ideally something that doesn’t outright say “AOP hypno fic”. Please leave some suggestions in the comments!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. DP Superheros - Capture</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Stephen is very down to go fuck himself. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen here.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: Non-con brainwashing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Stephen noticed when he came to was a large, strange device in front of him. He didn’t see much of it in wherever this dark room was. The second thing he noticed was that his arms and legs could not move. Tight restraints bounded his limbs to some kind of vertical surface. He wiggled his fingers around the slightly cold air, trying to grab something, anything.</p><p>”It’s about time.”</p><p>Stephen’s breath stopped. A shadow sat just in the farthest corner of his eye. Stephen couldn’t make out their face, but this was no doubt Nyx themselves. Stephen put on his best cocky face.  “Not brave enough to fight me?” he sneered, hoping to coax Nyx into talking a bit longer. </p><p>All he received was a huff in return. “What you lack in subtlety you make up for in energy.”</p><p>Whatever that meant. Stephen was about to pick another fight with the restraints but his thoughts cut off abruptly. The world went blurry as he tried to clear his vision, managing to regain focus. At some point Nyx had moved closer.</p><p>”How interesting.” Stephen shot a curious glare. “You anticipate what is going to happen to you. How is that so?”</p><p>”Uh, none of your business!” The machine in front of him began to whirr to life, clicking and whistling. Stephen winced at the sudden movement. He tried to shake himself free once more but the cuffs did not budge. Although he defiantly made a few more struggles, the thought of how useless he felt managed to cross his mind one last time before everything went blurry again.</p><p>And then it really happened.</p><p>However, the next thing Stephen knew, his restraints had disappeared, and Nyx was back to keeping their distance (when did they move?). He warily brought his hand to his wrist as if there might still be something there. Did it...not work?</p><p>”There’s no doubt you have a power - prey tell, what does it do?”</p><p>”I can see three seconds into the future.” Stephen’s eyes widened. <em>Wait, what the hell? Why did I say that?</em></p><p>”So you’re a scout. Quite a loud one at that.” Nyx turned towards the machine. “How often do you employ your power?” </p><p>”Can’t turn it off.”<em>Again?! Earth to Stephen, stop giving them information!</em></p><p>”Goodness! That does explain a few things.” Nyx extended their humanlike hand. Stephen took it, causing himself to stumble a bit before Nyx strengthened their grip. “Careful there.” </p><p>Stephen’s hand squeezed theirs back in a weak attempt at dominance. “What the fuck did you do? I’m not even brainwashed!” </p><p>Nyx chuckled. “Oh, did you think that machine can control people?” Nyx let go of Stephen, his hand perfectly frozen where Nyx held it. Aside from his lungs, Stephen found he could not move his body an inch. Of course, Stephen was still aware - just unable to even look away from his captor. “Anyways, constant future gaze does sound quite exhausting. Thank you for explaining that before anyone else tried it.”</p><p><em>Tried it?</em> Stephen’s heart started to beat faster. </p><p>”Come now, we’re wasting daylight.” </p><p>Nyx snapped their fingers and Stephen’s body gave a bit of control back to him. He glanced around. His “power” was gone? That would explain why he felt so blind and why everything was happening so fast. “Wait!” he shouted, coming out more panicked than he thought he would sound.</p><p>His captor turned around. “Don’t worry, you’ll be reunited with your power soon. You’ve lived with it anyway.” Stephen’s face turned sour at Nyx’s condescending tone. “Why don’t you take a nap until we arrive at our destination?” Nyx snapped their fingers, and everything went dark again. </p>
<hr/><p>The first place Hosuh decided was worthwhile was outside, of course. Dingo and Jay couldn’t seem to find any indication of Nyx’s whereabouts from passerby. It was as though Stephen had just...disappeared. The next place they went was a diner. Not because Stephen might be there, but so the gang could gather their senses on where Nyx might be.</p><p>Jay hung up his phone. ”Dan said he’d put in a good word for us at the security company, we’ll just need to wait for clearance. It’s only been an hour so they could still be moving.”</p><p>Hosuh nodded. “Sounds good to me. Lemme pay so we can get going.”</p><p>Dingo turned her head. “Uh, I said I was pay-” her eyes widened mid-sentence.</p><p>Hosuh looked behind himself. Standing before them was a woman with long pink hair. “Hey guys!”</p><p>And standing right beside her was Stephen. “Sup?”</p><p>”What in what are you two doing here?” asked Dingo. “Weren’t you captured?”</p><p>”As a matter of fact, I was.”</p><p>Seeing a glint in his eyes, Hosuh pushed Jay down. “Duck!” Stephen charged towards them with his fists raised. Hosuh jumped out of the booth. Dingo tossed a smoke bomb, allowing Jay to roll under and out onto the floor. A shriek cried out as the diner patrons quickly scrambled for the exit. Jay slowly stood up, noticing both Dingo and Pau had escaped as the smoke cleared and Stephen’s figure became visible again. Hosuh waved to Jay from the other side of the diner. “Stephen! What are you doing?”</p><p>“Fighting you? I thought that was obvious!” Stephen grabbed a cup and threw it on the ground in front of Jay, causing him to recoil. However, he then lunged at Hosuh, socking him in the eye with frighting accuracy. Hosuh grabbed him in kind, pinning him to the ground with a little more force than usual. </p><p>”What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Stephen kicked Hosuh off. Hosuh tried to wink at Stephen to no avail, as his eye had swollen shut. God it stung. “Stephen...why are hurting me?” Hosuh softened his voice. “Do you even know who you’re fighting?”</p><p>”You were going to immobilize me, I had too!” Hosuh saw his hands defensively raise to his chest. He could work with this.</p><p>”You attacked me. Did I do something to upset you?”</p><p>”No! Of course...of course not...” Stephen’s voice faltered. He opened his mouth again but was stopped by a chair with a resounding <b>thunk</b>. Jay flashed a thumbs up as Stephen stumbled into his arms. Hosuh rushed over.</p><p>”Are you okay?”</p><p>”Pretty unscathed.” Jay settled Stephen onto the ground.</p><p>Stephen brought a hand to his head. “Oww...” Jay tried to pull his hands behind his back. “Woah-hey! Stop that!”</p><p>”Stephen, you just attacked us.” Stephen pouted but let Jay cuff him. “So what should I say to Daniel? “We lost Stephen for two hours and he’s already been through the brainwashing machine?”” Stephen’s face paled. “Uh, you good there Steph?”</p><p>“It’s not a brainwashing machine.”</p><p>Jay and Hosuh glanced at each other. “What do you mean?” </p><p>”It steals powers.”</p><p>Jay pulled out his phone to make a call. Hosuh locked his arm under Stephen’s. “Why did you attack us?”</p><p>”It’s Nyx, it- that’s their power, they get inside your head. I couldn’t help it.”</p><p>Jay hung up. “Wait a minute. How do you know Nyx can steal powers?” </p><p>Stephen’s head hung. </p>
<hr/><p>Stephen tossed around in bed, the faint feeling of a dream lingering in his mind. Maybe he needed glass of water. He opened his door and turned the corner.</p><p>Suddenly, Jay appeared in his vision. “AAAH! At least make some noise or something! Christ!” </p><p>“Sorry. I forgot you can’t see me coming.” he tilted his head. “Whatcha doing?”</p><p>“Getting some water.”</p><p>”Can I come?”</p><p>”Sure? I guess?”</p><p>Stephen kept walking as Jay silently followed. He watched as Stephen poured himself a glass. They both stared at each other in silence.</p><p>”You got Hosuh pretty hard.”</p><p>Stephen winced. “No need to tell me that.”, thinking back to when he punched Hosuh out of fear. Hosuh did not have a black eye in the dream. Stephen gulped down the glass. “I already apologized, if that’s what you’re asking.”</p><p>Jay nodded. He thankfully did not follow Stephen back into his bedroom. Stephen just sat on his bed. He didn’t really feel like going back to sleep. His mind started to wander about his day. Remembering his silly little intrusion in City Hall. Slowly, drowsiness started to drag down on him, steering his train of thought back towards the dream.</p><p>He was in the dream, and he was -<em> is </em>a gorgeous beast. Not that he wasn’t already, but he could see himself from another’s perspective for once. And Stephen didn’t see why anyone would ever disagree. His suave walk, his cool eye-catching hair, and his beautiful red eyes. Although that’s what was so nice about the dream, that everyone knew it. Knew how powerful he could be.</p><p>Suddenly, the image was looking down on him. Blood rushed to his face. If this was how hot he looked, he might have to start wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. “......fuck me...”</p><p>The apparition smirked. “I think that’s called masturbation.” It offered a hand and Stephen took it (wait, when was he kneeling? Dreams make no sense). “You remember what happened.”</p><p>Stephen nodded. He must’ve forgotten when Nyx had to take his power away. Understandable that Stephen’s memories would be hidden, especially since any one of his teammates might think he was still “brainwashed”. What a ridiculous notion. The truth of the matter was just that Nyx and their powers would cease to exist if they couldn’t find a suitable host. And that would be such a waste, that when Stephen defeated Nyx, he decided to put himself to good use.</p><p>Now his imagination ran wild with thoughts of what he’d do with Nyx’s power. Of course even a powerful being would surrender to Stephen alone, but the prospect of somehow being able to bring the world to his will felt intoxicating. Everyone will finally see what he saw in himself.</p><p>”Ahem.” Nyx coughed.</p><p>“Oh, sorry.” Stephen adjusted himself. “I’m ready.”</p><p>Nyx didn’t waste any more time. Stephen gasped as Nyx solidified themselves in his head, feeling a bit like when he was first properly hypnotized. Shivers ran across his body as he imagined putting others under his spell. Oh, Hosuh would look so pretty hypnotized. Actually, Stephen bet that Hosuh would also be great at hypnotizing people with his enchanting icy eyes. Stephen hit a realization. </p><p>He’d simply take Daniel’s place. His former teammates would love being under his command instead! Stephen would make sure of it.</p><p>Stephen opened his eyes. Back in his own body, his eyes floated towards his phone. Curious, Stephen opened his camera and turned on it’s inner camera. His eyes shone a deep red. Sexy, but obvious. He closed his eyes. <em>Yellow, they should be yellow right now.</em> Stephen opened his eyes again to see his familiar gold irises this time.</p><p>He smiled and lifted himself from his bed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You may have noticed that this fic sometimes isn’t visible. I tend to have it set so that only registered users can see most of the time (This is to prevent the very embarrassing situation of Gavin stumbling upon it). It will go public occasionally! ...Just not when it’s at the top of the tags.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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